High Streets Strategy: Business Rates

Lord Swire Excerpts

Wednesday 11th November 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Pitt-Watson (Lab)]

I understand the point that the noble Earl is making. I cannot give him any assurances right now. The categorisation issues will be complicated ones. However, if there are places where he feels that there are problematic anomalies, perhaps we could talk about that, or he could write to me, and I can see whether we can do anything about it.

[Lord Swire (Con)]

My Lords, is it not time to accept that our high streets will never look the same again, from a combination of factors including online shopping, terrible car charges for anyone parking for more than a short time and out-of-town shopping centres? Surely the only way that we can regenerate our town centres is by encouraging younger people and families back into them, which, in turn, will engender a night-time economy and lead to a plethora of new businesses and shops. We need to think this from the start and stop fiddling around the edges.

[Lord Pitt-Watson (Lab)]

This is reflected in the high streets strategy. For example, the hospitality zones within the high streets strategy are making sure that we stop the conflicts that would otherwise arise between residential housing and hospitality in the same place. That is added to the rate reductions that I have talked about. The noble Lord is right that reviving the high streets may mean that there are different sorts of outlets on the high street, and that is very much at the core of the high streets strategy.